MOSCOW & WASHINGTON, DC, Oct 02, 2012 -- Bright Capital has been awarded as the Investor of the Year by Cleantech Group, a leading global research and advisory firm focused on energy and environmental innovation, as the financial investor with the largest percentage of its  cleantech venture portfolio in the 2012 Global Cleantech 100.

The prestigious 2012 Global Cleantech 100 list recognizes the top global private companies in areas such as energy efficiency, biofuels & biochemicals, smart grid, renewable energy, water and waste, and transportation. It offers a fair representation of global innovation and private company creation, and is the collective opinion of a panel of international cleantech experts. The full list of Global Cleantech 100 firms and the full report are available online for free at Cleantech Group’s website - http://www.cleantech.com/global-cleantech-100

Cleantech Group's awards were given in two investor categories:

An award was given to Bright Capital for Investor of the Year as the financial investor with the largest percentage of its  cleantech venture portfolio in the 2012 Global Cleantech 100;

Google Ventures won Corporate Investor of the Year, as the corporate investor with the largest percentage of its cleantech venture portfolio in the 2012 Global Cleantech 100.

In other of overall 8 categories, Early Stage Company of the Year, given to the highest-ranked product development stage company, was awarded to Siluria Technologies, developer of methane conversion technology for creating fuels and chemicals from natural gas. Siluria Technologies recently raised  $30 million investment in the 3rd round of financing, led by Bright Capital and Vulcan Capital.